A Great Destiny
by The Bard2
Summary: Dawn discovers she and her sister have a great destiny


Title - Buffy, The Vampire Slayer - A Great Destiny  
  
Author - Shane A. Hopkins (thesorcererbard@I-am-the-key.com)  
  
Rating - G  
  
Opinions - Always highly welcome send em to thesorcererbard@I-am-the- key.com  
  
Disclaimer - What I don't own. Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy and 20th Century Fox own Buffy the Vampire Slayer and everything related to them. What I do own. Everything not owned by the above mentioned people / companies is owned by me but you may use any of it as long as you give me credit.  
  
Authors Note - This story is set in season 6 after Buffy is resurrected but before Willow and Tara break up.  
  
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A Great Destiny  
  
Dawn was sitting at the table in The Magic Box flipping through a book. She knew she wasn't supposed to be looking at it but she couldn't help it, she felt drawn to it as if she was supposed to read it.  
  
She stopped at a page near the center it had only one paragraph of words on it.  
  
Eengray eyeway'say eesay oughthray imetay omfray ancientway artstay otay esentpray ayday. Ifelay'say ealray artstay andway eathday'say astlay ancechay. Ethay orldway inway erilpay. Away erohay eedednay.  
  
As soon as Dawn finished reading the paragraph in her head, she didn't dare read it out loud, she felt dizzy and as she got up everything blurred and shifted and grew dark until there was nothing left but blackness.  
  
When Dawn woke up she found herself lying in an unfamiliar bed, a very lumpy and hard bed. She sat up and looked around. The room she was in looked similar to Tara's dorm room used to, but this one was a lot more lived in.  
  
On the other side of the room Dawn saw an old man in a blue robe shuffling around.  
  
"Excuse me? But where am I?" Dawn called to the man.  
  
The man turned round and looked at her he said something in a language she didn't understand.  
  
"I don't understand you." Dawn said, she was starting to panic.  
  
The man said something else and a blue mist burst from his mouth and filled the room, almost as soon as the entire room was fill the mist vanished.  
  
"Can you understand me now, little one?" the man asked.  
  
"Yes, where am I?" Dawn asked, "And who are you?"  
  
"Ah yes the questions." the man said with a smile, "You are in Camelot, and I am Merlin."  
  
"No way!" Dawn exclaimed, "You really exist?"  
  
"Yes, now for my questions, What is your name? and where and when do you come from? Judging from your garments you are not from my time." Merlin asked.  
  
"Um, my name is Dawn and I come from Sunnydale, California, in the year 2001." Dawn answered.  
  
"Cal-if-forn-ya? I do not know this place." Merlin answered, "Where is it?"  
  
"America." Dawn answered. She didn't remember that America hadn't been discovered by this point in time.  
  
"Your names mean nothing to me, but I can look into your mind and find out what I need to send you back." Merlin told her, "But only if you permit it."  
  
"You can send me home?" Dawn asked.  
  
"Yes, for a mage of my calibre it is easy." he said, "Do you give me permission to get the information from your mind?"  
  
"Will it hurt?" Dawn asked.  
  
"No." the humour in his voice was audible.  
  
"Ok, I give you permission." Dawn said standing up and facing the older man.  
  
Merlin's light grey eyes looked deep into Dawn's bright blue ones. After a few seconds Dawn's eye's glowed green and Merlin took a step back.  
  
"You are The Key." he said in amazement, "That is how you got here did you read a paragraph from the center of a book the passage would have gone something like," Merlin paused, "Eengray eyeway'say eesay oughthray imetay omfray ancientway artstay otay esentpray ayday. Ifelay'say ealray artstay andway eathday'say astlay ancechay. Ethay orldway inway erilpay. Away erohay eedednay."  
  
"Yes, that's exactly what happened, what does that mean?" Dawn asked.  
  
"Green eye's see through time from ancient start to present day. Life's real start and death's last chance. The world in peril. A hero needed." Merlin told her, "It is a spell to take the one who needs guidance to someone who could give it."  
  
"Do I need guidance?" Dawn asked.  
  
"No, the only reason it worked is because the spell works at the same interdimensional frequency as The Key." the famous mage told her.  
  
"So you can send me home?" Dawn asked.  
  
"Yes, I got all the information I needed," Merlin told her, "But remember you are The Key and you have the greatest destiny of all."  
  
"What do you mean?" Dawn said looking bemused.  
  
"The Key is a vital player in the final apocalyptic battle, It has to survive the attempts by the Knights of Byzantium to destroy it and it must also survive the challenges that The Powers That Be put to it." Merlin paused looking at Dawn, "I am forbidden to tell you any more, it would tear the fabric of time apart."  
  
"You can't tell me anything?" Dawn almost wined.  
  
"No, I cannot, I will send you back now." Merlin said, "Tempus reversay tempus restoray."  
  
As soon as the words were out of his mouth Dawn felt dizzy and everything blurred and shifted and grew dark until there was nothing left but blackness.  
  
"Dawn!" came Buffy's voice, "Dawn, wake up."  
  
Dawn opened her eyes to find that she had been asleep at the table in The Magic Box.  
  
It was all a dream, Dawn thought, it was so real, out loud she said, "Oh, how long was I asleep?"  
  
"Only a few minutes." Buffy answered with a smile.  
  
"You shouldn't be reading this book." Giles said sternly.  
  
"Oh, I'm sorry." Dawn said lifting up the book, as she did so she noticed that the spell she had read earlier was gone leaving only a blank page.  
  
As Giles took the book from her she tried to think about what Merlin had said but she found that most of it had become very fuzzy. Giles moved to put the book back on the shelf it came from, as he turned a piece of parchment slipped from the book and landed at Dawn's feet, she bent to pick it up and found that it was written in English.  
  
It read.  
  
Dawn, Take care of yourself and your sister. You are both too important to loose. Merlin.  
  
"What's that, Dawn?" Buffy asked.  
  
"Nothing just a note I made at school." Dawn answered as she folded and put it in her pocket. 


End file.
